Drive arrangement for motor boats



1958 K. A. BERGSTIEDT 3,396,692

DRIVE ARRANGEMENT FOR MOTOR BOATS Filed Nov. 29, 1966 FIG. 2

a X J J17 INVENTOR. fiar/ 143a? fielysfeaz ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,396,692 DRIVE ARRANGEMENT FOR MOTOR BOATS Karl Abdon Bergstedt, Goteborg, Sweden, assignor to AB Penta, Goteborg, Sweden Filed Nov. 29, 1966, Ser. No. 597,769 13 Claims. (Cl. 115-35) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An inboard-outboard drive arrangement for a boat wherein an inboard engine in laterally disposed position is fixed in the boat and connected by a flexible drive means to a driven shaft parallel to the engine shaft, the driven shaft entering a housing disposed in a transom opening. The housing comprises a portion of an outboard leg tiltable on the axis of the driven shaft and including a lower portion which rotates for steering and which is provided with a propeller. A closure member is provided to seal the transom opening.

An inboard engine is laterally disposed in the boat and drives a tiltable outboard leg by a belt or chain connection with a laterally disposed shaft in the leg coaxial with the leg tilt axis.

The invention relates to drive arrangements for motor boats of the kind in which the motor is arranged inboard and connected to a propeller housing pivoted to the stern, with a change gear or transmission for neutral, forward and reverse. The pivoting of the propeller housing is arranged so that the propeller can be tilted up when striking an object or for running in shallow water and so that propeller replacement and maintenance of submerged parts can be carried out easily. The boat is steered by rotation of the lower part of the propeller housing. In drive arrangements of this type, the motor has heretofore been set up in lengthwise direction of the boat with the motor shaft aligned with the shaft entering the propeller housing and coupled directly to it.

The design according to the present invention contemplates a simplified version whereby in particular a compact, space-saving unit is obtained, and in which the transmission between motor and propeller can be altered without major operations. The characteristic feature of the invention is that the motor is set up transversely, i.e. the motor shaft is directed at right angles to the lengthwise direction of the boat, and that the motor shaft has a sheave or sprocket wheel for a belt or chain running over a corresponding wheel on an input shaft in the propeller housing, which shaft is so arranged that its center of rotation forms the pivoting axis of the propeller housing. The speed ratio between engine and propeller depends upon the relative diameters which may be selected for the respective wheels.

The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of this invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

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FIG. 1 shows a side view of the unit according to the invention installed in a boat; and

FIG. 2 shows a longitudinal section of a bevel gear transmission with reverse installed in the propeller hon-sing.

In the after part of a boat 1, a motor 2 of any type is set up crosswise, i.e. the motor shaft 3 is disposed horizontally and laterally of, or at right angles to, the longitudinal axis and direction of travel of the boat 1. On the motor shaft 3, a drive wheel such as a belt, pulley or sheave or sprocket wheel 4 is fixed, and this wheel carries one or more belts or chains, depending on the power to be transmitted to the propeller. Belts of V-type or cog type are suitable, and the profile of the peripheral portion of the sheave which engages the belt or chain will be adapted to the belt or chain configuration.

A propeller housing or outboard leg 5 extends out through the stern of the boat 1 and encloses an intermediate or drive shaft 6 connected (such as by bevel gearing not shown) to a propeller 7. The drive shaft 6 normally lies in a vertical plane including or parallel to the longitudinal axis of the boat, and the drive shaft and propeller housing extend generally downwardly when the housing is in normal operative position. The propeller housing is pivoted vertically on bearings 8 in a shield of closure member 9, covering an opening in the stern transom, and the shield 9 has an aperture 21 for the propeller housing 5. The top of the propeller housing comprises a transmission case 10 for a bevel transmission with forward, reverse and neutral controls and the bearing surfaces of bearings 8 are so arranged on the said transmission case 10 that it is completely located within the shield 9. Between the shield 9 and the hull of the boat 1 there is a packing seal 11, as well as a gasket 12 between the shield 9 and the transmission case 10.

The geometrical axis of rotation of the bearings 8 is concentric with a shaft 13 entering and rotatively mounted in the transmission case 10. A belt sheave or sprocket wheel 14 exteriorly of the case is drivingly mounted on shaft 13, preferably at its extreme end, for the belt or chain 15 which runs on the belt or chain sheave 4 on the motor shaft 3. 'Inside the transmission case 10 the shaft 13 has a bevel pinion 16 meshing in known manner with two bevel gears 17 and 18 freely mounted on the intermediate shaft 6, which alternatively can be locked tight to the said shaft for reverse or forward gear. The bearings 8 are preferably so arranged that the motor shaft and the input shaft 13 are parallel. Further details of such transmissions suitable for use herein are shown, for example, in my U.S. Patents No. 3,269,497 and No. 3,212,349.

Because the motor is connected to the propeller housing by belt or chain drive, the speed range of the propeller is easily changed by changing belt sheaves, and therefore the transmission inside the propeller housing can be of standardized type without regard to the speed of the motor.

In the design according to the invention, the transmission means inside the propeller housing form a unit permitting pivoting about the axis of bearings 8 and shaft 13, such as when encountering a submerged object, without universal joints and other complicated and sensitive elements, while at the same time a hydraulic, mechanical or other pivoting mechanism can easily be applied, Setting and adjustment of the trimmed position of the propeller is likewise easily accomplished, for example with the aid of a member 19 attached to the shield 9 to bear against a stop on the propeller housing. The steering of the boat is made possible by the fact that the lower part 20 of the propeller housing 5 with propeller 7 is rotatable about the intermediate shaft 6 by means of members preferably installed in the propeller housing. Reference may be had to my copending application Ser. No. 43 1,332 for details of suitable steering means and gearing for connecting the propeller to the drive shaft.

While only a certain preferred embodiment of this invention has been shown and described by way of illustration, many modifications will occur to those skilled in the art and it is, therefore, desired that it be understood that it is intended in the appended claims to cover all such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.

What is claimed as new and what it is desired to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A drive arrangement for a boat having a longitudinal axis and including a stern transom comprising, an inboard engine forward of said transom, an upright outboard leg aft of said transom, said leg having a lower end portion and a propeller carried thereby and further having an upper end portion comprising a housing portion, said transom being provided with an opening therethrough, said housing portion being disposed in said opening, a first shaft entering said housing portion, said shaft having a first portion outside of said housing portion and a second portion rotatively mounted within said housing portion, a driven wheel on said first portion, said engine being laterally disposed and fixed to said boat and having a main shaft including a portion projecting from the engine, a drive wheel on said projecting portion of said main shaft, said engine and said outboard leg being oriented and disposed with said shafts parallel an horizontal and extending at right angles to said longitudinal axis and with said drive and driven wheels in planar alignment, flexible drive means drivingly connecting said wheels for driving said first shaft from said engine, means in said leg for drivingly connecting said first shaft to said propeller, means pivotally mounting said outboard leg for tilting about the axis of said first shaft, a closure member for said transom opening sealed to said transom around said opening, said closure member being provided with an aperture, and said means pivotally mounting said leg comprising bearing means pivotally mounting said housing portion of said leg in said aperture.

2. The combination according to claim 1 wherein the means for drivingly connecting said first shaft to said propeller includes a forward and reverse transmission disposed in said housing portion of said outboard leg.

3. The combination according to claim 1 wherein the closure member extends aftwardly of the driven wheel on said first portion of said first shaft.

4. The combination in accord with claim 1 wherein the means for drivingly connecting said first shaft to said propeller comprises a drive shaft in said leg extending between said upper and lower portions of said leg and wherein the lower portion of said leg is rotatable with respect to the upper portion about the axis of said drive shaft for steering of the boat.

5. The combination according to claim 1 wherein said closure member is sealed around said leg at said aperture.

6. A drive arrangement for a boat having a longitudinal axis and including a stern transom comprising, an inboard engine forward of said transom, an upright outboard leg aft of said transom, said leg having a lower end portion and a propeller carried thereby and further having an upper end housing portion, said transom being provided with an opening therethrough, a closure member for said opening sealed to said transom peripherally around said opening, said member having an aperture and including seal means around said aperture, said housing portion being disposed in said aperture and sealed by said seal means to said member, a first shaft entering said housing portion, said shaft having a first portion outside of said housing portion and a second portion rotatively mounted within said housing portion, a driven wheel on said first portion, said wheel and first shaft portion being disposed forwardly of said closure member, said engine being laterally disposed and fixed to said boat and having a main shaft including a portion projecting from the engine, a drive wheel on said projecting portion of said main shaft, said engine and said outboard leg being oriented and disposed with said shafts parallel and horizontal and extending at right angles to said longitudinal axis and with said drive and driven wheels in planar alignment, flexible drive means drivingly connecting said wheels for driving said first shaft from said engine, means in said leg for drivingly connecting said first shaft to said propeller, and means pivotally mounting said outboard leg for tilting about the axis of said first shaft.

7. The combination according to claim 6 wherein the closure member extends aftwardly of the driven wheel on said first portion of said first shaft.

8. The combination according to claim 6 wherein the means for drivingly connecting said first shaft to said propeller includes a forward and reverse transmission disposed in said housing portion of said outboard leg.

9. The combination according to claim 6 wherein said closure member is rigid and wherein said outboard leg mounting means comprises bearings embodied in said closure member pivotally supporting said housing portion for tilting movement of said leg.

10. The combination according to claim 6 wherein the means for drivingly connecting said first shaft to said propeller includes a forward and reverse transmission disposed in said housing portion of said leg and a drive shaft in said leg extending downwardly therein from said transmission and having a lower end drivingly connected to said propeller.

11. A drive arrangement for a boat having a longitudinal axis and including a stern transom comprising, an inboard engine forward of said transom, an upright outboard leg aft of said transom, said leg having a lower end portion and a propeller carried thereby and further having an upper end housing portion, said transom being provided with an opening therethrough, a closure member for said opening sealed to said transom peripherally around said opening, said member having an aperture and including seal means around said aperture, said housing portion being disposed in said aperture and sealed by said seal means to said member, a first shaft entering said housing portion, said shaft having a first portion outside of said housing portion and a second portion rotatively mounted within said housing portion, a driven wheel on said first portion, said wheel and first shaft portion being disposed forwardly of said closure member, said engine being fixed to said boat and having a main shaft including a portion projecting from the engine, a drive wheel on said projecting portion of said main shaft, said engine and said outboard leg being oriented and disposed with said shafts parallel and horizontal and extending at right angles to said longitudinal axis and with said drive and driven wheels in planar alignment, flexible drive means drivingly connecting said wheels for driving said first shaft from said engine, means in said leg for drivingly connecting said first shaft to said propeller, and means pivotally mounting said outboard leg for tilting about the axis of said first shaft, the means for drivingly connecting said first shaft to said propeller including a forward and reverse transmission disposed in said housing portion of said leg and a drive shaft in said leg extending downwardly therein from said transmission and having a lower end drivingly connected to said propeller, said lower end portion of said leg being rotatable with respect to said upper end portion about References Cited the axis of said drive shaft for steering of the boat. UNITED STATES PATENTS 1 2. The COInbiU 9 1 according to Claim 1 Wherei'r: 378,613 2/1888 Olsen 115 41 flexible drive means is selected from the c ass consxstin 5 2,209,302 7/1940 Johnson et a1 115 41 of a flex ble V-bBh, a fiBXlble belt, and a fiexlble 2 42 013 4 195 Daniels 115 41 dIlVe Challl- 2,975,750 3/1961 Smith 115-41 13. The combination according to clann 6 wherein the 3,136,281 6/1964 Ki kh f et 5 4 flexible drive means is selected from the class consisting T of a flexible V-belt, a flexible cog belt, and a flexible MILTON BUCHLER, Examlllerdrive chain. 10 T. MAJOR, Assistant Examiner. 

